Video: Conor McGregor’s father shares emotional tale of watching ‘Notorious’ become a man through MMA

Before Conor McGregor became the mega mixed martial arts (MMA) star he is today — and most-profitable fighter Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has ever promoted — the mouthy Irishman had to prove to his father, Tony, that he could parlay face-punching into a full-time career.

While he was a bit hesitant to believe his boy — who had plans of becoming a plumber, too — could actually make it in combat sports, Tony tells BT Sport (via Daily Star) the moment he realized that he was wrong and Conor was right. That moment was when he watched Conor walk down the ramp during one of his fights under the Cage Warriors promotion, which is when he believes his young boy became a man before his very eyes.

His emotional recount:

“I didn’t think this was something he could do as a career. It was only until I saw him in Cage Warriors. When his opponent was called out, I just saw this big, block house coming out to music and lights. I looked at this guy and he was more mature in years than Conor, he would’ve been about 25, 26 or 27, even. And I thought, ‘Oh boy, this is my son’s opponent.’ And then they announced Conor and Conor came out to the music and lights, and when he walked down that ramp, I didn’t see a boy then, I saw a man. That always gets me — my boy becoming a man. It just gets me all the time. He got it right. It’s not often that a father would admit that. But, my son was right and his father was wrong. I knew then he had a career.”

Conor went on to capture both the Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight titles, much like he did under the UFC banner, a feat no one else has accomplished to this day. Those accomplishments — as well as these — undoubtedly filled his father’s heart with pride to see his son become perhaps the biggest star sport has ever seen.

Currently on hiatus, Conor — who was forced to cough up his 145-pound title — will likely return to action later this year to defend his 155-pound strap against the winner of the upcoming bout between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedv, which is set to go down at UFC 209 on March 4, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada (details). Of course, that could be put on the back-burner if this other history-making fight sees the light of day, first.